tale-of-tales posts

It's always an event when a developer puts one of its games under a "pay as you want" event. It's both a good deal for consumers as well as a big news generator about the game itself. Developer Tale of Tales hopes that's the case for its "Day of the Dead" event.

From now until November 2 you can get all three of the developer's published titles (The Graveyard, Fatale and the truly terrific The Path) for a minimal price of $3 (just to cover the games' online transaction fees) but you can also go higher and pay more. If you pay more that $50 Tale of Tales will even get you a "special surprise". The proceeds will go towards funding the developers' next game The Book of 8.

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

A military shooter, the latest Star Wars game and three downloadable titles are the highlights in new PC games for the next week:

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising: Codemasters developed this military shooter sequel on their own (the first game was made by Bohemia Interactive). The game is set in the near future where US and Chinese forces fight over a fictional island. Look for 70 weapons in the full game, support for realistic ballistics and multiplayer for co-op and deathmatch modes.

Earlier this year indie game developer Tale of Tales got a ton of critical praise for The Path, their adventure title based loosely on the Red Riding Hood children's tale. Now they are starting to reveal details about their next game, Fatale, which is based on more adult material.

The game's official web site has revealed one of the game's main characters, Salome. Indeed the game itself is based on the Oscar Wilde play Salome, where the title character is spurred by John The Baptist and gets his head cut off for his trouble. In the game version, Salome's character design was created by Takayoshi Sato who was one of the artists behind the first two Silent Hill games. Fatale is due for release on October 5 for the PC.

"Instead of extracting part of The Path and releasing it as a free trial, this is a brand new chapter, similar to parts of the game, but not the same. It gives you a free taste of the atmosphere of The Path.

In The Path - Prologue, you control the mysterious Girl in White. There's not a lot of gameplay in this demo. It's just about exploring the forest and pondering the sights. A prologue should show what happened before the events in the story... But in this case, it may seem like it's showing things that happened after. A mystery that will make more sense after playing the full game." The full game may be purchased for 10 dollars via the official website or through Steam.

Download The Path - Prologue Demo (53 MB)
Download The Path - Prologue Mac Demo (102 MB)
Check out all The Path downloads

The Path, by Tale of Tales, is ... a game. I say it's a game because you can fail at it, therefore there is a goal that can be failed. What that goal is is largely incomprehensible ... at least in the early stage of exploration. I'm willing to admit that there is a point to be made, but it's very hard to tell sometimes.

I also get that many people will have problems with this game because -- and this is acknowledged by its designers -- it is Art. As such, it attempts to directly interface with your emotions, and this can make playing it difficult. Find out why, after the jump.

"The Graveyard is a very short computer game. You play an old lady who visits a graveyard. You walk around, sit on a bench and listen to a song. It's more like an explorable painting than an actual game. An experiment with poetry and storytelling but without words. Buying the full version of The Graveyard adds only one feature, the possibility of death. The full version of the game is exactly the same as the trial, except, every time you play she may die."

Download The Graveyard Trial Demo (19 MB)
Download The Graveyard Trial Demo [Mac] (28 MB)

The launch trailer for The Path might a little unsettling in some ways, but it sets the tone for this unusual fairy tale adventure. The independently developed horror game is scheduled to release on March 18th.

"The Path is a modern retelling of Little Red Ridinghood. The player controls six sisters who are sent out, one by one, to bring their sickly grandmother a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. The path to her house is straight and short and no obstacles prevent you from swiftly completing your mission. But what about that forest along the way?
Mother told you not to enter it! But isn't that how the story goes? Aren't you supposed to meet the wolf?"

Download HD The Path Launch Trailer (48 MB)

If you are looking for quirky indie PC games you might want to start looking forward to The Path. This odd looking action-adventure game is being brought to you by Tale of Tales, a small team based in Belgium who are aiming to make you rethink how you view the Little Red Riding Hood fable.

The horror-themed game will let you play as six different versions of Red, each with their own personality and fashion sense. All must go to their grandmother's house and all are urged to stick to the path. But of course if they did that the game wouldn't be fun, would it? The game's official web site at grandmothers-house.net gives you more info on the title. Look for The Path to be released on March 18 via several download sites for just $9.99.

[Via Joystiq]

With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we're going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.

The most sought after quality of a game in the here and now is not how pretty it looks, how realistic the sound is, or even how fun it is. What matters most in a sea of look-a-likes is the all-important trait of innovation. An innovative game can get much more mileage than your average fun-but-simple experience, as people will talk about it even if it does not offer anything new in the realm of game4play or entertainment. Sometimes being made to think is a refreshing change of pace, after all. So here's five of the most innovative entries in the IGF competition.